When I was growing up, The 700 Club, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, and Rush Limbaugh were all a part of my day-to-day life. When I was in elementary school, I attended churches that seemed to believe, “We’re not the only Christians, but we’re the ones who are most right.” No one ever said this overtly, but I could feel that we all believed it. I was, however, told overtly, “The United States is the best country on the face of the earth.”
I had ventured away from these influences and expanded some of my thinking, feeling, and believing in adolescence, but I dabbled back in a bit during college. During that era, 9/11 crushed us with emotions of grief and anxiety. It felt safer to be “right” and “the most right ones.” These descriptors could have summed up my self-perception as a Christian or as an American.
If my 20-year-old self were alive now in the context we’re in—if we just plopped her from that time into this one—she would probably be a Christian Nationalist. Maybe she wouldn’t be the most cultic kind, but I think I would have wanted our government to take on “Christian principles” and be “a Godly nation.”
What I’m trying to say is that contexts, theological beliefs, forms of belonging, and emotions—including anxiety about our world—are shaping some people in these directions. And without a doubt, so are racism, xenophobia, and beliefs about gender identity and expression.
Thankfully, my current self is not a Christian Nationalist. I do not believe that we should be a theocracy. Far from it. And I believe we should do all we can to build a safe, inclusive world where we learn from people whose identities and ways of life are different from our own.
But I am seeking to learn some of the dynamics that have created and continue to shape this movement. Right now, I’m listening to Season 2 of the Extremely American podcast, which is reporting on this movement broadly and on a particular circle of it in Idaho. The reporters do not hold these beliefs, but with the permission of the communities they’re reporting on, they have immersed themselves to learn and, frankly, sound the alarm.
I’m listening, and I wonder if you might like to do that too. Check it out:
Extremely American Podcast: Season 2 — Onward Christian Soldiers
— Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 
If we had social media when I was in college, I probably would have become one of those incel trolls who let all his bitterness out on social media. I would have hung out on incel websites complaining about women until some of them tried to recruit me into being a racist, too, at which point I would have said, “Woah, I’m not going THERE.” But thankfully we didn’t have social media yet and I still had the real world as a moderating influence.
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And I think we’ll have to help isolated people have more of a real world moderating influence too.
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Despite being acquainted with you in high school, this revelation is a surprise to me. I am in the same boat, though. One of my favorite parts of school breaks was the fact that I got to listen to Rush Limbaugh. I even tried to call in a few times. I’d like to think that I wouldn’t have been a Christian Nationalist if I transported that version of me to today, but I suspect that I, like you, would have.
This actually unlocked a related memory for me. I will blog about that soon.
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I was more like this in college than high school, though a bit in high school. I do think that 20 year old me would object to Trump, but I think 20 year old me would be about the Christian Nationalism. I would think he’s the wrong person for that job.
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As promised, my own reflection on the topic: https://funnelfiasco.com/blog/2025/01/27/would-teenage-ben-in-2024-be-a-christian-nationalist/
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